By Tanya Jolliffe
Recently I experienced rejection from people close to me. It caused me to do a lot of thinking about the emotions and feelings that come with being rejected. The Miriam Webster dictionary defines being rejected as, “not given approval or acceptance.” This definition reminded me of scripture about Jesus being rejected.
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3 ESV). Jesus knew rejection and modeled the proper response to being rejected.
As I was thinking about the situation, I reflected on past experiences of rejection. I was quickly taken back to second grade and how difficult it was. I went to three different schools in three years, and it was a lot of work to make friends and try to fit in again. I remember being the “outsider” in this very small class in a country school. I remember the feelings of not being included on the playground, not being invited to the sleep overs, and being made fun of when I wore the green sweater coat my grandmother made for me for Christmas.
Other examples of rejection, not fitting in, not being accepted throughout my life came to mind. With them came the sting, the feeling of not being good enough. With those feelings come the lies of the enemy. I discovered that being rejected becomes an open-door invitation for the enemy’s attacks to draw the emotions onto a mental battlefield.
“Thoughts come with a choice. We get to decide if we believe the lies of the enemy or if we’re going to take them captive before they drag us down. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete” (2 Corinthians 10:5-6 ESV).
Jesus knew he was not of this world so the rejection of people in this world didn’t faze him.
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2 ESV).
“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36 ESV).
He told people of his knowledge so they might know the truth. He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23 ESV).
The same is true for us. When we allow our triggered emotions to give way to negative thoughts and feelings, we become focused on the world and not on the truth. We have also invited the father of lies to try and tell us WHO we are instead of remembering WHOSE we are.
“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:16 ESV).
“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19 ESV).
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2 ESV).
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15 ESV).
We must all remember what we have been taught. “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you” (1 John 3:13 ESV).
Sometimes that hate shows up in our lives as rejection. When it is rejection from those we love and respect the most, it stings, but we must not allow that sting of pain to open the door to the enemy who can make matters worse.
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8 ESV).
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me” (John 15:18-21 ESV).
So, remember dear friends, you are loved by the Father above and “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man” (Luke 6:22 ESV)!
Next time you feel rejected by people of this world, remember that you are not of this world. Turn toward your Heavenly Father and allow his acceptance to fill you with love so that the evil one cannot get a foothold in your thoughts. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him” (1 John 3:1 ESV).
